Women, lesbians and trans marched in Barcelona during the feminist strike’s eve

The non-mixed midnight march, without any union or political party representation, has welcomed the gathering of the Autonomous Feminist Action Session Day (nicknamed “Se va a armar la gorda”). This is the 8th year in a row.

Andrea is holding a sign that says “The Patriarchy is chocking us” while waiting for the 8 PM march to start in Joanic Sq. (Barcelona). She’s with her friend Laura who, like her, has decided to take part in the feminist strike on the 8th. They tell us that they are doing so because they don’t want the everyday patriarchy normalized. Laura sees the stike as “an opportunity to gain visibility to unpaid tasks such as childcare, nursing, housework, etc.”. Both agree that they should be able to walk alone at night without fear of being assaulted by a man.

Close to 2,000 women, lesbians and trans gathered to protest for these and other aspects of the feminist revolution while marching with various banners under the slogan “Feminist Self-defense. Organized rage.” towards Sant Joan Av. At the height of the Corpus Christi Parish, the march stopped to read a manifesto while burning a banner in the shape of “T”, in form of rejection of the Catholic Church.

Throughout the march a reminder that the protest wasn’t mixed was necessary. Maria’s customers already know that, despite being autonomous, she will go on strike. She highlighted the need to create those safe spaces because “that’s how we are heard. Otherwise only men are listen to”. Aurora declares that “if this happens to you, it’s because men exist. If they didn’t, it just wouldn’t happen”.

However, the Mossos’s riot police blocked the intersection between Sant Joan Av./Roselló St., and the evening march had to modify its route while some neighbors waved and cheered from their balconies as they went past. Once they reached Diagonal/Bailen, the protesters sat on the ground in a circle, while three participants painted the slogan “Neither imprisoned nor submissive: combat rebels”. Another protester highlighted the need for the movement to be anti-racist. The rest of protesters cheered on this action with shouts of “Long live the feminist fight”.

A second circle formed near Tetuan Sq. in order to read the manifesto in support of an anarquist comarade imprisoned in Germany and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. With a shout, someone reminded that “we aren’t all here, our imprisoned sisters are missing”. The end of the evening march was marked with a show of solidarity with the Kurdish people bythe reading of a poem. This was the eve to a strike expected to be a historic milestone.